WORCESTER 
With an eye on the future and another on the past, city officials re-opened Front Street with great ceremony today.

They called it a crucial artery that will connect the east and west sides of the city and spur downtown development.

For decades, a hulking shopping mall stood on what is now open road, a literal roadblock between Union Station and City Hall. Front Street was re-opened as part of the redevelopment of CitySquare.

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray said the now-open street will help knit together Worcester's neighborhoods, from the Shrewsbury border to the Paxton line.

“Re-established in that knitting is a vital artery that will pulse once again through the middle of this city,” he said.

Worcester-based Hanover Insurance Group Inc., led by Chief Executive Frederick H. Eppinger, jump-started the redevelopment of CitySquare in 2010. Hanover paid for the demolition of the long-defunct Worcester Common Outlets mall and part of a sprawling parking garage. It also constructed a new office building for Unum Group, another insurance company with operations in Worcester.

Mr. Eppinger explained his company's involvement in downtown this way: “This wasn't about charity, this was an investment.”

The opening of Front Street marks the successful completion of the first phase of CitySquare redevelopment, he said.

Unum and the parent company of St. Vincent Hospital are the only companies so far to commit to the new CitySquare. St. Vincent is building a cancer center at the end of Front Street bordering Foster Street. The other end of Front Street intersects with Main Street, next to City Hall.

A small procession of local veterans was the first to use the new portion of Front Street today.